Arthur, currently a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, said, “I think the biggest problem with this decision is it’s the sort of decision that only people who think too much and know too little actually do, and I don’t want to criticize Justice Gorsuch or Justice Kagan, but, again, it’s a very theoretical decision that doesn’t actually have anything to do with the way that this statute is applied in the real world.”

LISTEN to Judge Arthur's comments ABOVE

Arthur agreed with Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissent. He said, “Justice Roberts, on the other hand, in his dissent actually explains how it’s applied in the real world and explains how it’s not really that difficult of a statute to apply and how it’s not really that vague. As Justice Roberts noted, there are some serious implications to this decision. There are a lot of very dangerous aliens who are not going to be removable because of this decision, plus the crime of violence definition … applies in a bunch of different criminal statutes, and each one of those is going to be very adversely affected by the court’s decision. Again, we can’t allow that to get in the way of a constitutional analysis if a provision is plainly constitutionally invalid, but, again, I concur with Justice Roberts: it’s not, and it should have been allowed to stand, but the court didn’t see it that way.”